sábado, 25 de julio de 2015

OPEN LETTER FROM INTERNATIONAL PERSONALITIES TO THE KING OF MOROCCO IN SUPPORT OF ALI LMRABET

To

Your Majesty Mohammed VI,

At a time when Morocco is advocating
openness, democratisation and full respect for human rights as instruments for
confronting the future, we receive the news of the hunger strike begun by the
journalist Ali Lmrabet. For this reason, we wish to pass on to you our deep
concern for the situation of this journalist, who has received dozens of
international awards and who is deprived of his national identity documents
coinciding with the end of a 10-year ban on exercising the profession of
journalist in Morocco and also with his announcement that he wishes to return
to professional activity.

Freedom of expression and criticism are fundamental elements for the
consolidation of a democratic state that is active against regression and
intolerance. Any attempt to restrict freedom of expression degrades the image
of Morocco and the credibility of its commitment to the rule of law.

Precisely because, from here, we wish to lend our full support to any effort to
transform Morocco developed at different levels of the political world and
civil society in the country, we are writing to you to express our serious
concern at the current situation of Ali Lmrabet, whose life is in danger.

For all these reasons, we would ask you to reflect on this to give instructions
to the administration in your country, and its diplomatic staff in Switzerland
in particular, to renew all Ali Lmrabet’s Moroccan citizenship documents.

Without a residence certificate, passport and other documents related to
journalistic work, Ali Lmrabet would become the first Moroccan deprived of his
civil and political rights.

We do not need to give you, Your Majesty, lessons in the fact that the
deprivation of these rights is contrary to all liberties, including fundamental
freedoms, freedom of expression and, in the case of Ali, the internationally
recognised and acclaimed right to freely exercise the profession of journalist.
The only thing we would ask you, Your Majesty, in your capacity as Head of
State, is to strictly apply the provisions of the Moroccan Constitution, giving
the right to all citizens to fully and freely exercise their profession, in
this case as journalist and editor of publications in Morocco.

We look forward to your considered
response.

Yours sincerely,

LETTER SIGNED BY THE FOLLOWING
PERSONALITIES:

Míriam Acebillo Baqué, President
of Lafede.cat, Organisations for Global Justice